The Character of Don John in Much Ado About Nothing
William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy in which he uses one of his more peculiar villains. The antagonist in this play is Don John, the bastard brother of Don Pedro. In this paper I will discuss the role of Don John as well as his motives and the character himself. I will also delve into Shakespeare's use of Don John as the antagonist. I will be comparing Don John to other characters in the play as well as to other villains in Shakespeare's works. While Don John does not spend a great deal of time on the stage in Much Ado About Nothing, he still plays a vital role in the plot of the play. The plan that he sets in motion is one of the two main stories within the play (the battle of wit between Beatrice and Benedict being the other).
Don John, as I mentioned before, is the bastard brother of Don Pedro. His illegitimacy is one of the factors that makes him altogether vile and hateful. He is bitter because of his social standing and at the beginning of the play is directly bitter and jealous of Claudio. We might find some reasoning into why Don John hates Claudio by what he says when speaking to Barrachio and Conrade in the first act. When finding out about Don Pedro's plot to help Claudio win the hand of Hero, Don John says:
"Come, come; let us thither: this may prove food to my displeasure. That young start up hath all the glory of my overthrow: if I can cross him any way, I bless myself every way." (Shakespeare 16)
While Shakespeare never actually distinguishes specific motives for Don John's hatred of Claudio, we can infer one of two possibilities from his use of the word "overthrow". The overthrow he refers to could be a military overthr...
... middle of paper ...
... in the face to Don John.
The character Don John is not a very complicated character. He is not a character that gets very much time on the stage either. You cannot deny, however, that he is one of the most evil and twisted characters that Shakespeare has ever come up with. I think that Don John is the perfect villain in every aspect of the word.
Works Cited
Hunter, G.K. William Shakespeare: The Later Comedies. Great Brittian: Langman's Green & Co. Ltd. 1962
Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing. Cambridge: At the University Press 1962
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York and London: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc. 1963
Shkespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing. New Haven: Yale University Press 1917
Spivack, Bernard. Shakespeare and the Allegory of Evil. New York: Columbia University Press 1958
In Brave New World, there are three societies: the civilized society of Bernard and Mustapha Mond, the savage society of John and Linda, and the old society, which is not explicitly in the book but is described by the characters. These societies are vastly different. The old society is 20th century Western society; the civilized society creates people and conditions them for happiness and stability; and the savage society is very far behind the civilized society technologically, and is very religious. John is a very important character in the novel because he represents the link between all three of these societies.
Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed Stephen Greenblatt, et al. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
With its entangled double plots and eloquent use of words, Much Ado About Nothing is a story that has the ability to entertain the masses both young and old. Shakespeare’s use of figurative language along with situation creates such vivid imagery for which carries the drama from beginning to end. For example, when we look at Act 1 Scene 1 of the play ...
*Every semester I teach college Sociology classes I always have my students play a game of Monopoly. They don't play normal Monopoly though but one with special rules designed to teach them about how social class and wealth impact success and failure in life.*
Odell, George C. D. Shakespeare from Betterton to Irving. Vol. 2 New York: Dover Publications, 1966.
As humans, every aspect of our life is reliant on the natural environment, whether it’s the food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink, the clothes we wear or the products that are made and sold to create jobs and drive the economy. While Australia’s large agriculture industry may save us from running out of food, global shortages will drive up the price of staples making a trip to the supermarket more expensive. The increased frequency and severity of heatwaves may lead to death and illness, especially among the elderly. Higher temperatures and humidity could see increased mosquito-borne diseases in Aus. Climate change will affect our lifestyle in many ways such as; we will experience more extreme weather events more often, global politics will become unstable, our travel plans will change and some more. Climate change at a basic level will affect our food, health and leisure. Many people could also face war, starvation or losing their
To our knowledge, eyewitness memory could be simply defined as a person’s episodic memory that he or she has been a witness of a certain criminal event. However, psychologists have discovered that the confidence of memory recall of eyewitness, would increase significantly by asking them the simple question, (e.g., Do you see the perpetrator below the following pictures?), even though the feedback
The character of the husband, John, in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is introduced as a respected physician and a caring husband who strives to improve the mental health of his wife, the narrator, who is diagnosed with temporary nervous condition. John tries throughout the story to apply professional treatment methods and medications in his approach to helping his wife gain strength. However, his patient, his wife, seems to disregard John’s professional opinions and act as if she is following his advices only during his awakening presence with her. The narrator seems to be in need of John’s positive opinion about the status of her mental condition in order to avoid the criticism even though she disagrees with his treatment methodology. John, without doubt, cares for his wife and her wellbeing, but he does not realize how his treatment method negatively impacts their relationship his wife’s progress towards gaining strength. Although John was portrayed as a caring and a loving physician and husband to the narrator through out most of the story, he was also suggested as being intrusive and directive to a provoking level in the mind of the narrator.
The Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) represents the terminal practice degree for the field of nursing.
Hamlet was not mad, he only pretended to be. Hamlet felt that the only way he could get revenge for his father was by convincing everyone else that he was mad. But the play showed Hamlet’s act ...
This paper will explore the intelligence that started universal design. Describe and discuss ideas about Universal Design instructional approaches which teachers can employ to boost the success of learners. How universal design will impact, the teaching profession on a personal level will be addressed. The principles of universal design such as what, why, and how of learning will be reviewed. Is universal design the course to take for a free appropriate education for all learners? It is time to find out what universal design is all about.
McDorment, Teddy. "More information about: William Shakespeare." BBC. N.p., 2002. Web. 13 Jan. 2014. .
After the Second World War, Japan experienced an amazing and thriving economy. The United States’ Marshall Plan helped rebuild the Japanese economy and “created an opportunity for Japan to export manufactured products to the increasingly affluent United States” (Colombo). Japan, which was at the time comprised of “zaibatsu,” or financial conglomerates, began competing globally by mastering Western goods, and “selling them back to the West for cheaper prices” (Colombo). By the 1970s and 1980s, Japan had become the global leader in revolutionary electronics, which created an international trend “similar to the Apple iPod and iPhone craze of recent years” (Colombo). During this post World War Two period, “Japan experienced attractive economic growth to place itself as an economic powerhouse” (Tolia). Eventually, this economic miracle would come to an end and create a miserably failing economy for the Japanese. What had happened was that the seemingly perfect economy had secretly been “bubble-forming.” At the end of the flourishing period, the bubble collapsed and caused an economic catastrophe in the housing market, stock market, and financial market in general. In this essay, I will analyze some major causes of the bubble’s formation, and its demise. I will also analyze the Japanese government’s attempt to recover from the catastrophe. Overall, The Plaza Accord, Japan’s economic law, and its corporate structure led to the formation of the bubble, while the government’s attempt of financial deregulation halted the nation from recovery after the bubble’s collapse.
firing of her by reminding him that it is very difficult for people of his age and
Onion has several medicinal uses for treating diseases. Onion is used almost in all the therapeutic systems (K. P. Sampath Kumar, Debjit Bhowmik et al. 2010). Onion is a nutrient-dense vegetable, meaning that they are high in beneficial nutrients like minerals, antioxidants and vitamins (Sultan Ali Adil, Ayesha Maqsood et al. 2012).